Oko Semi
The Oko Semi (オコーセミ or オーコーセミ) In the only advertisement observed, the name of the camera is written オコーセミ (with a short "O") but the title is オーコーカメラ (Oko cameras, with a long "O"). is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera, made by Ōki Kōgaku Seiki Seisaku-sho and distributed by Sankō Shōkai in the early 1940s. Sources The Oko Semi is not mentioned in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, . but it appears in a later official price list dated November 1941. , type 3, section 7B. It was also advertised in the January 1942 issue of Hōdō Shashin, together with the Oko Six. Advertisement reproduced in , p.61. The advertising picture is very small and of bad quality. The only surviving example observed so far is pictured in . , p.746. Its lens and shutter are unknown. Description The Oko Semi is a vertical folder, whose body and struts are copied from the Ikonta A. The advance knob is at the top left, as seen by a photographer holding the camera horizontally. There is a body release on the left and a folding bed release button on the right. The camera has a small housing in the middle of the top plate, containing an eye-level finder and a waist-level brilliant finder. The back is hinged to the left and the film advance is certainly controlled by red windows. In the advertisement, the shutter is said to give 1–350 speeds and is perhaps called "Precision". The shutter name is written プレジョン (purejon) in katakana but this is perhaps a typo for プレシジョン (pureshijon or Precision). The word PRECISION is faintly readable on the shutter plate of the Oko Six pictured in the same advertisement. The lens is described as a four-element Tessar-type Okor This name in roman letters is tentatively inferred from the katakana オーコール printed in the advertisement; the actual roman form may differ. Anastigmat f/3.5. This lens was probably made by Ōki itself. Variations The example pictured in the advertisement and the example pictured in differ by some points. The advertised camera has an L-shaped finder housing, perhaps identical to the finder unit of the late BB Semi First, BB Semi Rotte and BB Baby Semi First by Kuribayashi. It also has a knob at the right end of the top plate, probably the depth-of-field dial which is mentioned in the advertising text. The surviving example has a smaller pyramidal-shaped housing, engraved OKO SEMI on the top. This part is identical to the finder unit of the second model of the Semi Mulber, and it has also been observed on a Star Semi. Semi Mulber: see for example , item 1207. Star Semi: example pictured in , item 1246. The right end of the top plate is smooth and no knob is visible. Notes Bibliography * Item 32. * Type 3, section 7B. * The Oko Semi does not appear in this list. * P.746. The Oko Semi is not listed in . Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder folding Category: O